DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0434
Ianus bifrontal on coins 367
the arch he is still comparable with Iupiter, who on a Roman bronze
lamp stands with thunderbolt and sceptre underneath an arch resting
on two Corinthian columns (fig. 264)1. Similarly in modern Hindu
Fig. 265 a. Fig. 26=. />. Fig. 266.
art Brahma is a four-faced (fig. 265), Vishnu a one-faced god
(fig. 266) seated above a lotus beneath a starry arch-'.
(0) Ianus bifrontal on coins.
The really distinctive feature of the anthropomorphic Ianus is,
of course, his double face. On republican and imperial coins he
is almost3 invariably bifrontal. Denarii of the gens Furia, struck
right; rev. PMTRPX[lIl]MP vii[i] COSVPI' S C Ianus holding long sceptre, 011 a base
beneath an arch.
1 Brit. Mus. Cat. Bronzes p. 326 no. 2519 = Brit. Mus. Cat. Lamps p. 8 no. 38 pi. 2
( — my fig. 264). Height 7^ inches. In neither publication does Mr H. B. Walters give
the history of this interesting lamp. Very similar, but not (apparently) identical, is one
figured by Montfaucon Antiquity Explained trans. D. Humphreys London 1722 v. 143
pi. 39 no. 1 and by F. Creuzer Symbolik tend Mythologie* Leipzig and Darmstadt 1841 iii.
207 f. pi. 9, 41 after G. P. Bellori Le antic he lucerne sepolcrali Jigurate Roma 1704 Pt. ii.
1 pi. 1. Bellori's interpretation 'Jupiter Custos," on account of the dog curled up round
the hole for the wick, is fanciful. The dog, as a symbol of watchfulness, is a frequent
ornament on lamps (e.g. Brit. Mus. Cat. Lamps p. 2 no. 4 pi. 1, p. 6 no. 26 fig. 5, p. 12
no. 65 pi. 8, p. 13 no. 68 pi. 7, p. 16 no. 93, p. 62 no. 430 and no. 431 pi. n, p. 90
no. 594, p. 174 no. 1155 and no. 1156 fig. 245, p. 209 no. 1394, p. 225 no. 1498 pi. 37),
and need not be viewed as an attribute of Iupiter. The phalloid horns are of course pro-
phylactic.
- Figs. 265 and 266 are from two alabaster carvings in my possession. Height: 6}if ins.
:i Infra § 3 (a) v (o) fin.
the arch he is still comparable with Iupiter, who on a Roman bronze
lamp stands with thunderbolt and sceptre underneath an arch resting
on two Corinthian columns (fig. 264)1. Similarly in modern Hindu
Fig. 265 a. Fig. 26=. />. Fig. 266.
art Brahma is a four-faced (fig. 265), Vishnu a one-faced god
(fig. 266) seated above a lotus beneath a starry arch-'.
(0) Ianus bifrontal on coins.
The really distinctive feature of the anthropomorphic Ianus is,
of course, his double face. On republican and imperial coins he
is almost3 invariably bifrontal. Denarii of the gens Furia, struck
right; rev. PMTRPX[lIl]MP vii[i] COSVPI' S C Ianus holding long sceptre, 011 a base
beneath an arch.
1 Brit. Mus. Cat. Bronzes p. 326 no. 2519 = Brit. Mus. Cat. Lamps p. 8 no. 38 pi. 2
( — my fig. 264). Height 7^ inches. In neither publication does Mr H. B. Walters give
the history of this interesting lamp. Very similar, but not (apparently) identical, is one
figured by Montfaucon Antiquity Explained trans. D. Humphreys London 1722 v. 143
pi. 39 no. 1 and by F. Creuzer Symbolik tend Mythologie* Leipzig and Darmstadt 1841 iii.
207 f. pi. 9, 41 after G. P. Bellori Le antic he lucerne sepolcrali Jigurate Roma 1704 Pt. ii.
1 pi. 1. Bellori's interpretation 'Jupiter Custos," on account of the dog curled up round
the hole for the wick, is fanciful. The dog, as a symbol of watchfulness, is a frequent
ornament on lamps (e.g. Brit. Mus. Cat. Lamps p. 2 no. 4 pi. 1, p. 6 no. 26 fig. 5, p. 12
no. 65 pi. 8, p. 13 no. 68 pi. 7, p. 16 no. 93, p. 62 no. 430 and no. 431 pi. n, p. 90
no. 594, p. 174 no. 1155 and no. 1156 fig. 245, p. 209 no. 1394, p. 225 no. 1498 pi. 37),
and need not be viewed as an attribute of Iupiter. The phalloid horns are of course pro-
phylactic.
- Figs. 265 and 266 are from two alabaster carvings in my possession. Height: 6}if ins.
:i Infra § 3 (a) v (o) fin.